For years, libertarians had fought laws and policies barring Communists from teaching as direct assaults on the First Amendment, while supporters of loyalty programs had painted all Communists as mental slaves of Moscow. In 1952 the Supreme Court upheld New York's 1949 Feinberg Law, which required detailed procedures for investigating the loyalty…

In lawsuits pending in federal courts in Boston and Chicago, Americans harmed by terrorist attacks linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran are asserting claim to artifacts they believe belong to that nation, in their quest to win more than $4-billion in damages. The institutions that hold the artifacts, which include Harvard University and the…

For some colleges and professors, classified research promises prestige and money. Powerhouses like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Johns Hopkins University have for decades run large classified laboratories. But most other universities either do not allow such research or conduct it quietly, and in small doses. The…

The trial in Ward Churchill's lawsuit against the University of Colorado got under way here last week with lawyers for the opposing sides painting starkly different pictures of both the controversial ethnic-studies professor and the circumstances surrounding his dismissal by the university in 2007. In delivering their opening remarks in a crowded…

Steven Kurtz, a professor of visual studies at the State University of New York, has been working with various bacteria as part of his counterculture exhibit artworks for nearly 20 years. Four years ago, federal agents raided his home in a bioterrorism investigation. The federal agents had been called to the house by local police officers…

To make an academic study of matters inherently secret and potentially explosive seems a tall task. But a growing number of scholars are drawn to understanding spycraft. The interdisciplinary field of intelligence studies is mushrooming, as scholars trained in history, international studies, and political science examine such subjects as the…

This article describes how Bruce Hoffman and Marc Sageman, two prominent scholars of terrorism, square off over whether Al Qaeda remains the primary global terrorist threat. The dispute began in the pages of "Foreign Affairs," where Hoffman, a professor in the security-studies program at Georgetown University, wrote a withering review of…

This article reports on the imprisonment of a Muslim former student on charges related to terrorism that has struck a chord among academics and public intellectuals. Syed Fahad Hashmi, a 28-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, is being held in solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, on multiple…

In the years since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the federal government's policies that deal with national security have changed significantly. In an effort to prevent the results of science and engineering research from being misused or falling into the wrong hands, government agencies that support studies are placing restrictions on…

An excerpt from the opening piece in "Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences" by Lawrence Weschler is presented where the author is talking with Joel Meyerowitz, the only photographer granted unimpeded access to the clean-up operations at ground zero after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The two discuss the parallels…

Describes how, despite the growing budget deficit, Congress directed a record $2 billion to college projects in 2003, many of them dealing with security and bioterrorism. Includes data tables on the earmarks. (EV)

Discusses how Maoist guerrillas are attacking colleges as part of an effort to overthrow Nepal's government. (EV)

An increasing number of studies on suicide bombing suggest that terrorism is not necessarily bound to religious extremism. The authors of this body of work, primarily drawn from political science and social psychology, agree that suicide bombings, with or without the trappings of religion, are largely a response to occupation, or, since September…

Describes how Western academics, already growing scarce in Saudi Arabia, are leaving in greater numbers after the bombing in Riyadh. (EV)

In several sections, explores how the quest for homeland security is changing academe. Discusses the FBI on campus, visa delays, government funding for antiterrorism research, educational programs in counterterrorism, and civil liberties. (EV)